Another towing capacity rant
 

I know I saw a thread in here a while ago that was talking about the fact that the 2010 1500 has a 2000 lb greater towing capacity than the 2009. I just looked my truck up on Dodge's bodybuilder and it is rated at 6400 lbs and the 2010 version of my truck is 8400 lbs. Has anyone found out why this is. I am thinking of purchasing a camper and it is about 7000 lbs loaded. I dont know if I should do it or not. I was under the understanding there were no mechanical changes for 2010 but no lifetime warranty. Does anyone that has inside info, i.e. Dodge employee's, know if this is the only reason for the difference.

Basically its Crap!
 

They just needed to raise their truck weights so that they could compete better against other brands!

We should start putting pressure on them to send us out new stickers. I mean how much could it cost them to re-spec our trucks?

I read that they re-tested the trucks for 2010 with different criteria and determined that the 2009 ratings were too low. I assume that means the 2009 vehicles basically have the higher capabilities.

Rob

This is true, the 09-10 are identical, the testing standards changed and it turned out the 09 towing capacity had been significantly underrated.

2010 is the correct towing capacity for 09 models as well.

the 2009 ratings WERE too low, if you are doing serious towing A LOT, make sure you have the 3.92 rears! the 3.55's will tow it but not as well

I may be wrong, but I thought the difference was due to the 10's coming stock with electronic brake controllers and the 09's did not.

I have a 2010 sport 4x4 with hitch but no brake controller

That shouldn't have anything to do with it. I don't drive a 4th gen ram, but I do pull a 8000 lbs travel trailer with my hemi durango. It's spec'ed at 8900 lbs towing capacity.... I find it hard to believe that the Rams would be lower.

I also have a 2010 TRX4 with hitch but no brake controller that I'm aware of.

A brake controller has nothing to do with vehicle tow ratings. Yes, you do need a brake controller for trailers over a certain size (varies by state), but manufacturers don't factor that into towing capacity. Towing capacity is based on engine power, gear ratio, suspension, wheel size, truck brake capability, and cooling capacity of various systems. This is why the various RAM flavors have significantly different towing capacities based on their axle ratios. My 1500 crew with 3.92 and HEMI can tow something like 10,100# but a very similarly configured vehicle with a 3.21 is thousands lower.

That being said, if you're towing up near the max capacity of any vehicle on a regular basis or in adverse conditions (bad roads, winter driving, mountains) you really need a bigger tow vehicle. The Grand Cherokee we just got rid of had a towing capacity of something like 6,500# but there are a lot of big, high, wide campers weighing under that amount that I would never consider towing. The vehicle wheelbase was very short and crosswinds would be a big hazard. If I was to tow something approaching 10K with the RAM it definitely wouldn't be on windy, wintery mountain roads.

Rob